Importance of Home Field for TFC Progress

TFC is a team that is supposed to be rebuilding and working towards one day competing for league titles or at least playoff spots.  The problem is that of late it seems like BMO field is turning in to a relatively easy place for visiting teams to come and play. This weekends 0-0 draw against a road weary Sporting Kansas City team who have begun the season with 10 straight games on the road.  For TFC it has to be looked at as 2 lost points rather then 1 gained as they really should have been able to beat a side like Kansas at home since KC are bottom of the league.  For KC though the draw must feel nice as they were able to finally head home to their new stadium with one more point in hand and a clean sheet giving them something to build on.

There are two ways to look at this game if you are a TFC fan.  The first is that, well it is a heck of a lot better then the team being beaten 6-2 a week earlier.  The other positive that can be taken from the match is that the single point keeps Toronto FC within reach of the final automatic playoff position despite struggling through the early stages of the season.  You can also be happy with the single point when you consider the fact that the team has a fair few injuries as well as a couple of players already gone for the Gold Cup.

All of those positives are true and a draw is not the end of the world but I am inclined to look at the match from the other point of view.  The team has struggled to find goals this season with really only Maicon Santos providing a regular threat, and even he is not lighting it up be any means.  At the other end of the field TFC have struggled not to concede a lot of goals, so I guess in that light the clean sheet is nice.  For me the biggest concern is that TFC seem to have very little if any home field advantage going for them of late.  Which is worrisome because if you look at the top clubs in any league you realize that they are really strong at home and claim the majority of their points at home.  The best example of this that I can think of right now is Manchester United in the most recent Barclays Premier League season.  They did not have the most impressive of seasons overall but they only lost one game at Old Trafford as well as only drawing once.  The means that United claimed 55 points at home out of a total possible 57 points.  I am not saying that I expect TFC to get that kind of home record at any point in the near future but if you want to compete you need to have at least as good of a home record as the other top teams in the league which is a long ways off for TFC.

Toronto FC's record on the season is:
Games Played - 14
Wins - 2
Draws - 7
Losses - 5

But at home the record is:
Games Played - 9
Wins - 2
Draws - 5
Losses - 2

You might say that at least Toronto has won at home and have only lost twice which is a big improvement over their road form where they have yet to win in 5 matches and have already lost 3 times but I would counter that if you want to compete you better pick up more then 11 points in your first 9 games at home.  BMO field is no where near being the kind of fortress that a top team needs its home field to be.  Of late it seems that teams are coming there expecting that they will be able to at the very least come away with a draw and they are right to think that.  I am not saying that the fans are not doing their part to make it a tough place to play because the environment would certainly improve if the team were playing more exciting matches on the field.  The crowd does a decent job of getting into the game and encouraging the team but of late they are not being rewarded with that much to cheer about.  I do think though that the team has to get to a point where they have an attitude where they are expecting to win every time that they take to the field at BMO and when they do draw they are unhappy about it.

The team seemed pleased with a draw this weekend which in fairness was still a decent result for a side that has struggled for form and fitness in this season of rebuilding but if they are going to move forward that is an attitude that is going to need to shift.  Before TFC is ever going to become an elite team they have to develop the attitude of one and expect nothing less then a win at home and that applies even more so when they are playing a tired side like KC who are bottom of the league.